Manual Handling
Ensuring good practice during lifting and carrying activities across the University.
Introduction
Manual handling is the transporting or supporting of a load by hand or bodily force. This includes lifting, putting down, pushing, pulling, carrying or moving loads. A load can be an object, person or animal.
The Manual Handling Operations Regulations (MHOR) set out the following ways in which employers must deal with the risks from manual handling:
- Avoid hazardous manual handling, so far as is reasonably practicable
- Assess the risk of injury from manual handling operations that cannot be avoided
- Reduce the risk of injury from hazardous manual handling to as low as reasonably practicable
Arrangement and Guidance
Please see the following Manual Handling Arrangement and Guidance documents:
For More Information
Where it is not possible to eliminate a manual handling task, a risk assessment must be undertaken and suitable controls implemented to reduce the risk of injury so far as is reasonably practicable. This could be achieved through the use of mechanical aids, training to ensure appropriate lifting technique and other control measures.
The Health Safety and Compliance Team have created a risk assessment template specific for manual handling tasks:
Manual Handling Risk Assessment Template
For further information and guidance on risk assessments, please see the risk assessment page.
All staff and students who engage in manual handling operations must have received suitable and sufficient training to enable them to carry out the task safely. For details on our training courses, please see our training page below:
The University has a range of manual handing aids to enable staff to carry out manual handling tasks safely, including trolleys and other wheeled appliances such as sack trucks.
To ensure these aids are safe to use, trolley tags must be used to record inspections and indicate the status of the equipment. Trolley tags are available from the Health Safety and Compliance Office, Mercantile Building, floor 8.
To keep registration and inspection records of trolleys, please see the following form:
Damaged trolleys can lead to serious accidents, therefore need to be removed from service and either repaired or disposed of. If you need to dispose of any damaged trolley, please contact Estates and Campus Services by emailing Estates.helpdesk@port.ac.uk.
Some trolleys that incorporate lifting aids will also be subject to inspection under the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 (LOLER). Please contact the Health, Safety and Compliance Team if you are unsure about this, or require assistance.